INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Crafty chick]

Before this year with garden, I used to just hand weed. It was do-able... for a while. We've have tomato plants come up the next year also. It's nice to have those surprise plants pop up without planting, and waiting for sprouts. This year I tried my in-laws trick of newspaper between rows. I think it's much like the cardboard idea. Just opened up and folded and laid it down then covered with dirt so it wouldn't blow away. It has worked pretty well.
Hellochickies- ours have always seemed more friendly right before the started laying too.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I may have to add another 6-8". That's a good idea. We specifically got 6' tall fence in hopes that it'd be tall enough that they wouldn't easily just fly over. We were wrong! Our Golden Sebright Bantam is very light! (This is the first of this breed that we have owned. But we read full grown they usually won't weigh more than 20 ounces) She's about 5 months old. Nothing will stop her. I have to get a ladder on a weekly basis to get her off the top of our coop because she will fly up there and poop all over our solar panels. The Roof peak of our coop is about 10' tall. And not sure if she flies on to the edge of their run then up on to the roof of the coop or if she does it one shot.
This is how tiny Ducky Is. And that's in the arms of a 6 year old.


They are all the same age. But "Ducky" is the tiny girl to the right. So yes, she's a very light breed!

This is our coop (before it was finished and before the run was even started. I really need to take more pictures of it) That she manages to easily get on to the peak of.

If you decide to trim, only do 1 wing. I had to when I kept Sebright also. They are excellent fliers. My little hen was flighty and easily escaped if I opened that run door even a second.

Quote:

I had a great "Chicken Moment" this morning!

I have a couple of birds that like to be petted, but my 19-week-old Easter Egger pullet, Sunny, has never come to me. Suddenly this morning, she jumped right up into my lap, and made herself comfortable! I was so surprised, that I held my breath. lol When I finally started to breathe again, I slowly reached into my pocket for my phone, to record the event with a picture.

I didn't push her by trying to stroke her, but tomorrow I'll be sure to have some treats at hand, in case she does it again! Ah, the simple moments that are very magical. (Only chicken people would understand this. lol) Isn't she a pretty girl?


Sunny


She hasn't given her first egg yet, but I expect one very soon! I can't WAIT to see what color they are!
I wonder if she's getting friendlier because she's getting ready to lay?

She is gorgeous! She is just beginning to trust more. EE are a great flock bird, and some are pretty independent.

Before this year with garden, I used to just hand weed. It was do-able... for a while. We've have tomato plants come up the next year also. It's nice to have those surprise plants pop up without planting, and waiting for sprouts. This year I tried my in-laws trick of newspaper between rows. I think it's much like the cardboard idea. Just opened up and folded and laid it down then covered with dirt so it wouldn't blow away. It has worked pretty well.
Hellochickies- ours have always seemed more friendly right before the started laying too.

Thank you for the advice! I have already started saving boxes for next year!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I can tell the daylight hours are dwindling. Eggs are slowing down, birds are all molting. So many feathers scattered the last few days it was concerning me! Lots of my mature birds are even molting primary feathers.
School starts Tuesday here, so am being proactive of the goose flock. The Buff pair raised 3 Canadian gosling after the mother was killed in the road. Those 3 have returned to the main Canadian goose flock at the park across the road at that park.
My Embden and American Buff both went to my Vets flock this week. I still have my Chinese, brown and white. They have a huge amount of forage and a pond here. The Buffs encouraged the Embden to leave and go to the park, across the road. Dangerous for them and presented a liability for us also. My Chinese geese stay home and know boundaries. I could not bear the thought of the other breeds crossing the road with school buses flying by, and risking an accident, let alone hurting children on a bus. If I cannot safely keep birds they need to be rehomed in a better environment. Both breeds easily scaled 6ft fences. Even with netting they chewed and got out.

 

[iamfivewire]

Yes - getting dark a little earlier each day + one of our trees has been shedding leaves already for over a week

 

[Leahs Mom]

Sigh. I noticed the later sunrise this morning also. I'm not looking forward to winter

No molting yet.

@jchny2000
Is there some way to make your geese stay on your side? I'm not sure how you'd accomplish something like that?

 

[Greenthumb83]

Sigh. I noticed the later sunrise this morning also. I'm not looking forward to winter

No molting yet.

@jchny2000
Is there some way to make your geese stay on your side? I'm not sure how you'd accomplish something like that?

Same. I opened the chicken door at 6:30 this morning and no one came out lol. Winter is going to be here before we know it. I am actually looking forward to it this year. With all the work we've done this season (and soon to come), we are looking forward to some shorter days and time inside with family. We also start home school this week. I am happy to not have to worry about the weather and driving 15 miles in the snow to pick my kids up every day.

I hope everyone starts laying before cool weather comes. I was hoping to stock up a little for fall and winter baking. We are getting some beautiful eggs from our older girls, but not as many as we eat lol. @ChickCrazed The girls had a hayday in the garden yesterday! lol Time to get the fence finished.

 

[Indyshent]

Craigslist ads!

6 hens, 1 polish roo, and one Bourbon poult $60 in Indy

$6 Buff Orps in Thorntown

$10 Roosters, hens and Pekins in Pendleton

New Zealand rabbits in Columbus

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Meat goats in Anderson

$65 feeder pigs in Connersville

$250 Oberhasli does in Greensfield

$4 Bobwhites in Pekin

$300 Holstein heifers (abt 10 weeks old) near Fort Wayne

Automatic watering system in Evansville

$10 Lavender Royal Palm poults in Middletown!

$50 feeder pigs in Middletown

 

[Mother2Hens]

Hi everyone—Same ol' story here—been busy, and I am catching up on posts!

For anyone interested on information about our exceptional Indiana thread, please read: Indiana BYC'ers Members, Events, & Links

Hi! Fellow hoosier here! Does anyone in the northern half of Indiana have any young pullets for sale (prefer 4-6 months old) that are Buff Orpington, Barred Rock, Silver Laced Wyandottes, or Cockoo Maran? I am having a heck of a time finding pullets within an hour's drive me. The only source I have is Craigslist and half the time the sellers do not even respond.

@tjbuckshotbarn ~ (A late) Welcome, and thank you for checking in with our great Indiana thread! We not only welcome your Fort Wayne Army buddy to join us, but we also would be happy to have your NC input as well. We're proud to have several members from other states.
I noticed a couple of you who I'm not sure if you're new to the thread or not, but Welcome!
@lcertuche ~ Great to hear from you in Arkansas! I envy your location, "In the midst of Ouachita Mountains and the Ouachita National Forest."

@Digz ~ Nice to see your posts, and congrats on your "First Egg"!
@HelloChickies ~ Ditto! So, what did you end up doing with your first egg? I liked @Faraday40 's Christmas ornaments that she made with her hens' first eggs.

Originally Posted by MikeTodd
Just got the run up. We will build the gate for it today and will put bird netting over the top we are home all day so we are monitoring for aerial predators. The bigger girls needed some room so we went ahead a made it so they could come out.


@MikeTodd ~ I bet your chickens love their new safe space! You might want to plant a small shrub—mine love to hang out under a bush after they've foraged a while. It gives them shade, a hideout, and they also love to dig around under bushes. I'm not sure if your grassy area is a grazing frame, but you may want to look into making one. That way they just peck the tops of grass instead of pulling it out by the roots. And it's technically safer since long pieces of grass can be an impacted crop hazard, although from what I've read, that is more of an issue if they gorge on long pieces of grass clippings.

The fenced-in part of our backyard is where our chickens free-range unsupervised, and it used to have a large grassy area. By fall of our first season with chickens, we had no grass! The next season we sodded, but gee, they ate that grass, too! lol That fall, my husband made two grazing frames, and I re-landscaped the backyard with a flagstone path and ornamental grasses, evergreen plants, flowers, etc. where the grass formerly lived. Just the other day I decided to order some "Peaceful Valley Omega-3 Chicken Forage Blend" from grow organic.com to use in the grazing frames. I'll report back to everyone about the product after I receive and grow it.
Speaking of products—I saw these boots with desirable motifs -lol- at Rural King $19.99. And, yes, I was compelled to buy a pair!

@jchny2000
Great pictures of your pretty goats— Re this photo below..I can see where the expression, "Butting Heads" comes from!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Sigh. I noticed the later sunrise this morning also. I'm not looking forward to winter

No molting yet.

@jchny2000
Is there some way to make your geese stay on your side? I'm not sure how you'd accomplish something like that?

We never had issues with it until The neighbor's Buff geese came into the picture. From there, I tried everything, even confined them inside the electric fence. Both the Buff and the Embden can fly out. I rehomed the Buff and the Embden geese last week with my Vet. The Chinese geese stay put and are never a problem leaving the yard. They are my favorite breed so thats the only geese I plan to keep going forward.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Okay, I just had to share with y'all this precious picture of my 12 week old Blue Cochin pullet, Cazzie, today. Look at this face!!